In May, sports bettors in North Carolina placed over $525 million in wagers, marking the lowest amount bet since the launch of legalized mobile sports betting in the state. Operators collected $63 million in gross wagering revenue, which is taxed at 18% in the state, resulting in over $11 million in taxes for North Carolina.
The North Carolina State Lottery Commission calculates revenue from sports betting by adding paid wagers and promotional wagers, then subtracting canceled or voided wagers and amounts paid as winnings. In May, bettors placed $494.6 million in paid wagers and $30.9 million in promotional wagers, despite a quieter period in the sporting calendar.
Since the launch of legalized mobile betting on March 11, eight sports betting companies have been licensed to take mobile sports bets in North Carolina. However, revenue figures for individual betting companies or apps are not released by the commission. The commission does not provide details on how much each company has made from their operations.
In May, UNC System colleges received a portion of the tax revenue generated from sports betting to fund athletic departments. Each school received $300,000 plus 20% of tax revenue left after the first $8.4 million was distributed. As of the end of May, each college athletic department was set to receive more than $820,000 overall since launch. Over $1 billion has been wagered on real money bets since launch with almost half a billion dollars paid out as winnings including promotional bets totaling over 3 hundred million dollars
